- Report
- Behavioral
- Report
- Behavioral
North America
Social and Mobile Marketing Preferences Report
It might seem obvious, but it’s true: social media is where most Gen Z and Millennials pay the closest attention to a brand’s marketing in 2026, far outpacing every other channel, including streaming service commercials—YouTube remains the steadiest source of ad attention across every age group. Ad-skipping is falling for the first time since 2024, as the vast majority of young consumers say they don’t mind ads that are entertaining, and most want ads personalized to their interests. Unscripted, creator-made content is winning too: more young people pay attention to posts from online influencers and creators than from Hollywood actors, and most prefer organic, user-made images over polished, professional ones when brands post ads on social.
In YPulse’s 2026 Social / Mobile Marketing Preferences Report, we dive into why new product content is now beating user-generated reviews for attention, which brand interactions (following, watching stories, sharing) are climbing while others (brand challenges, messaging, filters) are cooling, and what young people are actually buying after seeing it on social media.
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- How brands are winning attention on social feeds
- What's driving young consumers to tolerate ads that entertain them, to prefer personalized ads, and a growing share to say brands on social should just act like people
- Which brand interactions are rising and which are falling out of favor
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Report length: 21 pages, North America report is based on a survey of 1500 13-39-year-olds in the U.S. and Canada (n=1000 U.S., n=500 Canada), fielded May 13–21, 2026.
Additional content for Pro users:
The full ranked list of where 13-39-year-olds pay attention to ads across 11 channels, the complete list of ways young people have and haven’t interacted with brands on social media (12 behaviors, with year-over-year trend data), full agreement breakdowns on seven social ad statements (from ad-skipping to personalization to direct-buy links), the complete set of ad-format preferences (short vs. long video, static vs. video, big vs. small creator, feed vs. story placement), agreement data on trusting social media for purchases and shopping inspiration, the full ranked list of what 13-39-year-olds want to see on a brand’s feed by age group, and purchase-intent breakdowns across platforms including TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, and ChatGPT.
The Data File also includes data split by the following demographics: Gender & Generation, Age Groups, Academic Status, Race & Ethnicity, POC, Country, Urban/Rural Status, LGBTQ+, Family Status, Household Income, Social Media Users, and Follows a Celebrity Online.